Sophie Nguyen opened two Vietnamese restaurants in 2005 – Auberge d’Asie in Branford and Pot au Pho on Whitney in New Haven. Several years later she closed Auberge and moved back to Vietnam, leaving Alphonse Nguyen (no relation) to manage Pot au Pho under its new name: Pho Haven.

“We’ve been here eight years,” and diners know what to expect, says Nguyen. The only real change is that the restaurant is now BYOB.

The menu will stay pretty much the same, mostly Vietnamese fare, although a few new items with a fusion feel are in the offing. A case in point is the popular dish Sophie created – the Banh Dap or roti wedges. Roti is an Indian bread, but Sophie infused it with the flavor of Vietnam.

One thing that won’t change is the noodle soup called pho. Made from their own stock, it remains their most popular dish. “One-third of the customers – that’s what they eat and that’s what they come here for,” says Nguyen. “When it is cold, the weather is miserable, wet, that’s when we are packed,” he says, with diners warming themselves over generous bowls of steaming, fragrant pho.